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Captains

We caught up with our three captains after their time away with the National Team and asked them for their thoughts on a number of issues. Firstly we wanted to know how the International break had gone for them.

Brad, Chino and Jamie joined by Erin on the pitch at the Karaiskakis Stadium

Chino was adamant that, ‘as always the international break is an amazing experience. I for one try and bring that experience back to the club and push the team to the maximum! Its always great to be back at the club with all my team mates and prepare for our next big test.’It was also a very gratifying experience for Brad, ‘the international break was another amazing experience and a chance to meet up again with our other team mates. On a personal note it was satisfying to be back in the reckoning after being in and out of the last few squads. Now it’s time to focus on Gib Utd again, working hard and playing well which will hopefully turn into more call ups and caps along the way.’

Our focus now switched to this Sunday’s game against Manchester 62 and all three Captains shared similar feelings. Jamie responded that, ‘you know what you are going to face when you play Manchester 62, in some aspects I reckon it will be a very similar game to the Lynx one. Of course it’s another opportunity for us to gain more momentum and get another 3 points.’ Thoughts shared by Brad, ‘we had a very good result in our first game. We stuck to our gameplan and in the end came away with the 3 points. Man 62 won’t be an easy task as we found out last season but this year we go into the game off the back of a good win and a positive mentality to hopefully come away with another win.’

We finally asked the three if they had noticed the squad gelling better upon their return for International Duty. Chino cast his Captain’s eye over the question, ‘the squad is coming together really well and theres a very good atmosphere in the changing room which will reflect on the pitch!’ Jamie also noticed the squad had solidified, ‘while we’ve been away the squad has had more time to gel and new players look settled now.’

All three Skippers agreed that the match on Sunday would be a tough one but that the team was ready and raring to go!

With the start of the league barely 5 days away we decided to catch up with our new look Captains for the season.

Chino, Brad and Jamie with the Club’s new training gear.

The captain’s armband had been left vacant once Robert Montovio left the playing staff and it was Michel Salgado himself who announced Chino as Club Captain at the Club Gala Night held in June. Brad Power and Jamie Bosio were named as Vice Captains for the season and they took time out of a busy preseason training programme to answer a few questions.

It has been a very busy transfer window with many players leaving and many more coming in to reinforce the squad and the Skippers addressed the issue for us. Chino for one was pleased to see the influx of new players and stated the Club should be praised for the efforts. Brad likewise welcomed the reinforcements claiming that, ‘the club has added quality in different areas of the pitch. Goals is something which we lacked last season but our new additions this year will address that issue and allow us to hopefully get more results and points on the board.’ Sentiments that were echoed by Jamie, ‘ I think we’ve signed some very decent players with plenty of experience of playing in different leagues that could prove vital this year.’

Preseason started very early this year with the players hitting the beach as early as 29th July and have played a substantial number of preseason friendlies, essential to the gelling of a new squad. Chino’s thoughts on the matter were, ‘ This year preseason has had a different but positive feel about it as the club has changed its philosophy. Its has been far more professional and competitive. We have played lots of friendlies where the new players have made their mark and raised the bar as a whole for the club.’

Both Brad and Jamie agreed with Chino with the latter further adding, ‘all in all I think the preparation has been ideal. Many hours of work will hopefully show come the start of the season.’ All three also agreed that the standard of professionalism across the Club had been raised and it was being felt on the training pitch with Brad highlighting the intensity during the sessions and the knock on positive effects that was having.

We kick off aginst Lynx F.C. this coming Monday at 21:00 and all three were asked about their expectations for the match.

Chino answered, ‘Monday’s game will no doubt be a tough game as its always is against a resilient lynx but everyone is upto the task and securing those first 3 points is vital for a positive start.’

Brad expressed similar sentiments, ‘everyone is buzzing for kick off and our final preparations are almost complete. We have a game plan and although both teams have changed a lot from last season we are hoping for a positive start to get confidence right from the off. We’ll go into the season game by game and as we continue to gel as a squad we will hope to be looking further up the table this season.’

Finally Jamie aslo responded, ‘ Lynx are always a tough side to come up against. They usually invest heavily each summer, so we are expecting no different. They will be well-drilled under Bula and I’m sure he will want a positive start to the campaign on Monday like we do. It’ll be a gritty game and I’m really looking forward to getting the ball rolling.’

The Captains and the squad are raring to go and as they strode off onto the training pitch Chino, Brad and Jamie exuded quiet confidence that Gibraltar United was ready for the season to come and impatient to get the ball rolling!